Grimshaw and BVN to design Parramatta high-rise school

Grimshaw and BVN to design Parramatta high-rise school

Grimshaw Architects and BVN have won an international competition to design the new school.

Image by Grimshaw.

Image by Grimshaw.

The new school will combine Arthur Phillip High School and Parramatta Public School into a new 17-storey building.

The school will cater for up to 2,000 secondary students and 1,000 primary students, and will be based on a schools-within-schools model, where the school is broken into smaller 'stages'.

The $100m redevelopment is a response to Parramatta's increased urban density, and shows how large schools can be accommodated on a relatively small piece of land.

The primary school will be housed in a four-storey gradually curving building, that surrounds an outdoor learning and play area. The high-school will be 17-stories, and will consist of a series of two-storey, stacked volumes.

Design entries were submitted from around the world, and included some of the world's best architects, including Lyons, Architectus, and Woods Bagot/3XN.